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Recess
Genre:
Comedy Adventure Coming Of Age
Running Time:
20 minutes
Country:
United States
Release Date:
September 13, 1997 – November 5, 2001
Network(s):
ABC (Seasons 1–3 & 5) UPN (Seasons 4 & 6)
Created by:
Joe Ansolabehere Paul Germain
Distributed by:
Paul & Joe Productions (Season 5)
Starring:
Ross Malinger (Seasons 1–2) Andrew Lawrence (Seasons 2–6) Rickey D'Shon Collins Ashley Johnson Pamela Adlon Jason Davis Courtland Mead April Winchell Dabney Coleman Allyce Beasley Ryan O'Donohue Erik von Detten
Seasons:
6
Episodes:
65 (127 segments), plus 4 movies
Recess is an American animated television series created by Joe Ansolabehere and Paul Germain, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation in association with Paul & Joe Productions in the last two seasons. The series intially premiered on a primetime slot on August 31, 1997 on the American Broadcasting Company before it was released at the channel’s One Saturday Morning block on September 13 of that year as the block’s first originals alongside Pepper Ann.
Throughout its four year run, a total of 65 episodes consisting of 127 shorts was broadcasted until November 23, 2001 on UPN’s One Too. On February 16, 2001 School’s Out was released at theaters followed by three straight to video films released in the aforementioned year and 2003.
The series focuses on six elementary school students: TJ Detweiler (Ross Malinger, later Andrew Laurence), Vince LaSalle (Ricky D’Shon Collins), Gus Griswald (Courtland Mead), Mikey Blumberg (Jason Davis), Gretchen Grundler (Ashley Johnson), and Spinelli (Pamela Segall) in their campus 3rd Street held by the sour Ms. Finster. Most of their adventures are targeted on the sextet protecting it from King Bob and his minions the kindergarteners.
Why It Rocks
Memorable characters like the main six: T.J. Detweiler, Ashley Spinelli, Gus Griswald, Vince LaSalle, Gretchen Grundler and Mikey Blumberg.
On top of that, the main six have distinct personality traits and characteristics: T.J. is the natural leader, Spinelli is the hot headed tomboy, Vince is the athletic kid, Gretchen is the brains of the group, Mikey is the kind hearted kid who loves poetry, and Gus is the unlucky one of the group who is sympathetic because he lives in a military family and has to move a lot.
Memorable episodes such as "Economics Of Recess", "The Story Of Whomps", and many more.
The show also teaches the lesson that "sometimes, people won't like you, and there's nothing you can do about it", which is a very important lesson for children to be taught, and something you don't see much in kid shows.
A few unlikable characters including Randall and the stereotypically girly quartet of Ashleys.
The sixth and final volume looked very poor since it featured a few episodes of season five.
To the horror of many who screened the series as a childhood staple, Jason Davis, Mikey’s voice actor crossed the rainbow bridge on February 16, 2020 from an accidental overdose at 35.
Trivia
After the release of its theatrical film Recess: School's Out, the series was supposed to get a prequel film titled Recess: The First Day of School that would have followed the gang's adventures as they adjusted to the fourth grade before Gus moved to town. Unfortunately, John Lasseter, who became head of Disney around the time of production, cancelled all direct-to-DVD sequels, including this one, considering the film wouldn't have been theatrical due to the show losing popularity in the early 2000s
Paul Germain based Gretchen on childhood pictures of his wife.
In 2022, Joe Ansolabehere announced that he & Paul Germain have been working on a potential revival. However, there are some things that are currently unclear about the upcoming revival:
It is unknown if the original cast are either gonna reprise their roles or if the new cast will voice the characters
It is also unclear if the characters will be grown ups, or remain kids.
